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Ask HN: How do you handle VAT / Sales Tax accounting as B2C SaaS?

97 points throw_1VJ51pMb | 7 comments | 08 Mar 25 08:57 UTC | HN request time: 0s | source | bottom

Hey! I run a B2C SaaS and I use Stripe for all of my sales (subscriptions).

I am looking to learn how others handle their VAT / Sales Tax filing.

I know that the standard answer would be to use Paddle / LemonSqueezy / Polar.sh, but I already have a lot of subscribers on Stripe which makes quick migration non-trivial.

I am especially looking for some reliable accounting companies / accountants that can register and file Sales Tax across US, UK, Canada, Australia, etc. (It does not have to be a global solution).

It's my understanding that solutions like Stripe Tax, Alavara, Quaderno, etc. only help collect the necessary data (which I consider the easier part, at least for digital goods), but do not handle the registration & filing (though I've learned that Quaderno will support filing Sales Tax in the US on your behalf soon).

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Some jurisdictions are relatively easy to handle (for example, one can handle whole EU by uploading a simple CSV [1] once a quarter and the CSV is easy to generate from Stripe's records).

But unfortunately there are tons of others that are much more complicated and scattered -- for example, due to the economic nexus laws in the US, I now have to file Sales Tax in each individual state where I am over the threshold (and many states have thresholds in low hundreds of transactions, so it's not hard to reach).

[1]: https://www.elster.de/bportal/helpGlobal?themaGlobal=osseust_import

[2]: If you do not feel comfortable commenting here, you can also reach out at z2qmk@pekoi.com (temporary email)

Show context
senordevnyc ◴[11 Mar 25 23:23 UTC] No.43338192[source]▶
What if you just…did nothing. What would happen?
replies(2): >>43339250 #>>43392386 #
mingabunga ◴[12 Mar 25 02:06 UTC] No.43339250[source]▶
Exactly! Nothing if you don't ship physical goods. I've been doing this for 24 years and only collecting sales tax for users in my home country. All other countries I just say on my invoice that any sales tax is included in the price. What are the going to do about me not charging sales tax in their country and remitting it? Come and get it?
replies(1): >>43339325 #
1. senordevnyc ◴[12 Mar 25 02:22 UTC] No.43339325[source]▶
I mean, I do understand if you’re big enough to be a target, but seriously, how is Germany or Taiwan or Argentina or wherever the fuck else going to 1) even know that I (a little US-based SaaS app doing under 8 figures in revenue) exist, 2) know that their citizens are paying me, 3) know how much, and 4) be able to do absolutely anything about it?

I’m genuinely asking.

For the pearl-clutchers here, I don’t do anything for GDPR for the same reason. Pass whatever laws you want in your county. Not my problem.

replies(1): >>43341091 #
2. omnimus ◴[12 Mar 25 08:55 UTC] No.43341091[source]▶
Are some of your customers buying the product as their business? Because if they put it in their expenses the record is there. If then for some reason somebody starts to dig you would be liable for all those taxes going back.

Sorry but these are laws those customers countries set and its not just EU. Every other country is now considering similar system because digital products is huge outflow of unpayed taxes.

Btw “not your problem” it would be if you were not doing bussiness with those countries. Nobody stops you to not sell to EU. Imagine you were buying physical product from EU. Would you also expect not paying taxes on it just because they are from abroad?

replies(1): >>43343118 #
3. senordevnyc ◴[12 Mar 25 13:36 UTC] No.43343118[source]▶
It’s not my problem because I don’t live in those countries, and their citizens are coming to me and purchasing something. It’s analogous to a citizen from Germany coming into my restaurant in Chicago, and then the German government declaring that I owe them taxes. Ridiculous. I’m not going to incur any extra work or cost just because some random other country decides that they deserve a cut.

Ultimately though, it’s not my problem because there’s no enforcement mechanism whatsoever, so I just ignore it. The bureaucracy on the other side of the world can stomp their feet all they want, but unless they have a way to make me pay it, I won’t.

replies(1): >>43344317 #
4. mixmastamyk ◴[12 Mar 25 15:31 UTC] No.43344317{3}[source]▶
Not likely I guess, but not unheard of to nab you while traveling: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=41341353
replies(1): >>43344367 #
5. senordevnyc ◴[12 Mar 25 15:36 UTC] No.43344367{4}[source]▶
Come on, that has literally nothing to do with a relatively tiny software company failing to collect VAT at another country's whims.
replies(1): >>43344399 #
6. mixmastamyk ◴[12 Mar 25 15:39 UTC] No.43344399{5}[source]▶
It has everything to do with breaking laws conspicuously enough to get noticed. I’m sure the guy providing encrypted messaging thought he was doing nothing wrong, and I’d tend to agree with him.

Let’s not pretend govts have no tools. A friend once had their bank account seized by the state of California due to a moderate balance after six months.

replies(1): >>43345915 #
7. senordevnyc ◴[12 Mar 25 17:55 UTC] No.43345915{6}[source]▶
Again, if you're big enough to end up on their radar AND they have some method of enforcement, then yeah, better be compliant.

Even in that case, it's not like you're going to get suddenly arrested on holiday in the EU with zero advance warning.

I'll just continue to ignore VAT and GDPR, and I expect that there's a 99.999% chance nothing will ever happen.